Why do you collect backs?

[orly57]

I ask this question because the back of a baseball card has never particularly mattered to me, and even less so when they are ads. All of us collect what we love, and this is by no means a shot at you back collectors. IN fact, I ask humbly, and seek to understand.
I think it's cool when you guys show your runs of the same card with like 10 different backs. I can totally get the high in chasing rarity. But I sometimes find that you guys don't even care who is on the picture as long as it's a brown Hindu or a Broadleaf. So I want to hear from you back collectors, and there are TONS of you, what it is exactly that draws you in?

[darwinbulldog]

"I can totally get the high in chasing rarity."

That's about the size of it.

[kmac32]

My quest is to collect every possible fronr/back combo of the T205 Cubs. I have been a Cub fan since I was young and have collected Cubs cards exclusively for years. I like the idea of the hunt and having a T205 Cubs master set.

[Sean]

I just wanted to get at least one of every ad. I do care who is on the front. I much prefer a Cobb/ Lenox to a Howell/ Lenox. But I can't always afford a HOF/ rare back combination.


And having advanced to a level where I have all the fronts and backs that I can afford, I want more challenges. So now I'm working on a couple back runs. My Merkle back run has been more fun than anything else that I've acquired. Now if only I could get that damn Red Cross.

[Vandelay]

Coming at this as a complete novice who only bought his first vintage card about a year ago - I love the personality that the different backs bring to the T206 set. Different colours, different slogans...as much a relic of the era as the deadball player on the front, for me.

That said, I totally understand why they might mean nothing to others. All part of the charm of the set is that there is seemingly endless ways to collect it.

[MVSNYC]

I've been collecting T206 rare backs for almost 30 years (wow, I'm dating myself). From day one, when I discovered T206 at a small show, I was instantly drawn to the ornate, often colorful, ads on the back of the cards. The vintage, bold graphics pulled me right in. Add to that, the challenge of rarity of many of them, I was hooked.

[ullmandds]

I have always loved rare backs because the fronts are usually easy... whereas the fronts with rare backs are not!!